Reconceptualizing pre-menstrual emotional symptoms as phasic differential responsiveness to stressors

Abstract

Studies of emotional changes in the menstrual cycle have found very inconsistent patterns of complaints. One possible explanation for the inconsistency in findings may be that mood changes may occur through differential responding to external stressors at different phases. An experimental mood induction procedure and memory task was conducted pre- and post-menstrually with 17 women who were new attenders at a clinic for pre-menstrual symptoms and whose daily data fulfilled criteria for cyclical changes in emotional symptoms. There were differential phase effects of mood induction with suggestions of patterns of greater negative mood change (not explainable in terms of initial mood levels) pre-menstrually. In addition, memories recalled in this phase were rated as significantly less happy. There are tentative suggestions from this small study that women reporting cyclical PMS symptoms may respond to negative external events pre-menstrually with more negative mood states. This may support the utility of cognitive approaches in women complaining of menstrual cycle mood changes.